The Mission Bay High School Buccaneers’ varsity baseball team enters the home stretch of the 2012 regular season this week with a 6-5 Western League record and an overall record of 12-11.

The Bucs face the arch-rival La Jolla Vikings in a crucial home-and-home series this week that will help determine whether Mission Bay can advance to the CIF playoffs and what their playoff position will be if they qualify.

Mission Bay got off to a strong start to open the season with four straight wins in the preseason Prime Sports Bill Whitaker Classic but struggled in the late-March City Tournament and then posted inconsistent results in the first three Western League series with Point Loma, University City and Cathedral Catholic.

The Bucs split with the Point Loma Pointers and University City Centurions. They were swept by the Catholic Cathedral Dons and were outscored 10-2 in the series.

Mission Bay rebounded last week by sweeping the last-place Coronado Islanders (0-8) with a 6-3 win on the road May 2 and a 4-3 win on the other side of the San Diego-Coronado Bridge at Dennis Pugh Field on May 4. This week, the Bucs will travel north on La Jolla Boulevard to face the Vikings on May 9 and then get the Vikes at home on May 11. The final Western League series will be against Madison (5/14, 5-16), followed by the regular season finale on the road against out-of-conference rival Clairemont Chieftains (5/17).

Senior Leslie Caibling leads the team in batting with a .429 average (30 hits in 70 at-bats) followed by fellow seniors Sam El Goual at .431 (28 hits in 65 at-bats) and Anthony Torrescano with a .338 average (22 hits in 65 at-bats). Junior Luis Osuna has also contributed with a .311 average (12 hits in 37 at-bats).

Caibling also leads the Bucs in ERA at 1.24, giving up only nine earned runs in 51 innings. Torrescano is second in ERA with 1.35 with two earned runs in 10.1 innings and senior Sam El Goual with a 1.37 ERA (five earned runs in 25 innings). Senior Armando Zavala has been the workhorse of the staff with 54.2 innings pitched and a solid 2.05 ERA.

The Bucs have also been successful on the base paths by stealing 37 bases in 43 attempts.